PrintTrying to Re-create Dishes from Restaurant Cookbooks, Including Shopsin's 'Slutty Cakes'
In the spirit of recessions, and not going hungry during them, we started a Friday morning feature on Serious Eats New York spotlighting recipes from the city's beloved (and oftentimes pricey) restaurants, like this "Eating in with Mario Batali: Spaghetti with Bottarga." Slate also wants to stay classy while not starving, so they attempted recipes from three "quintessential yet very different" New York City restaurant cookbooks, including the "slutty cakes" (or canned-pumpkin-and–peanut-butter-filled pancake things) from Eat Me by Kenny Shopsin of Shopsins.
The unsurprising conclusion: It resembled the original, but not perfectly, and meant missing out on the restaurant's inimitable vibe. "At home, Kenny Shopsin didn't insult me (which is really an integral part of the Shopsin's experience)."
The writer's version of Slutty Cakes, which call for Aunt Jemima, came out light, fluffy, and nicely browned, with the intended Reese's cup qualities. Success! But, she admits, Shopsin makes superior "concentric circles of peanut butter in the middle."
Ah, you gotta pay the big bucks for that.
Related
'Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin'
Eating in with Bouchon Bakery: Langues de Chat
Eating in with Balthazar: Steak Tartare
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5 Comments:
Slutty cakes are a definite winner from the book, but that's the only one that I've actually been able to "nail" as of yet. Must admit I read it more as a book than a cookbook.
souldawg at 1:44PM on 01/21/09
I read it more as "book" than "cookbook" as well, but as a Shopsin fan in general, I gotta say that slutty cakes RULE!!! I wrote a post about the book a while back:
http://tinyurl.com/5n4hll
vinovamp at 1:54PM on 01/21/09
In Shopsin's case it really is the big bucks. You have to admire a man who can tell the world he uses Aunt Jemima mix and still charge what he does :]
Michele Humes at 4:12PM on 01/21/09
The Brown Rice Special (p. 101) doesn't sound like much on paper, but is a seriously, crazily addictive salad (or, as Kenny says, "a f***ing terrific salad"). I must've made it a dozen times since I got this book and I've sworn to have Kenny's version next time I'm in NYC. The Cream of Garlic Soup (p. 135) is really, really good, esp. if you are in Chicago and can make it with pretzel bread. And we had the Sausage & Walnut Stuffing (p. 190) for Thanksgiving, to great acclaim (Jimmy Dean sage sausage is the key). Slutty cakes are next on my list to try!
marlys at 7:15PM on 01/21/09
In all the time I've eaten a Shopsin's--and that's going back to the Bedford days--I've never been insulted.
I've heard him call Eve a c---. He told one lady who ordered a lentil-ish soup to a 9, "you don't get into a pissing contest against me." And one time I ordered a cactus soup off the specials board. He asked how it was. "Good. Real good," I said.
"I know," he was overhanging the deli counter. I didn't understand. "I tasted it before I sent it out."
It was the first time anyone had ordered it. He winged it based on the name he had made up and put on the board. A silly name. Something Cactus. That's how he works. I wish I remembered the name. But it was not "Cactus Bingo", which was an standard in the old place.
It's too easy to mention the insults, to report on brusk treatment, and relay stories about being kicked out. And they may all be true. But that is all to miss the point.
Feefiefoefum at 11:48PM on 01/22/09